:00:11. > :00:16.Prince William flies into the Falklands and a diplomatic row
:00:16. > :00:19.between Britain and Argentina. He's there as an RAF Search and Rescue
:00:19. > :00:24.pilot, the Ministry of Defence insist it's a routine deployment.
:00:24. > :00:28.30 years since the UK and Argentina went to war. British forces say it
:00:28. > :00:34.will not be allowed to happen again. We are in a very, very different
:00:34. > :00:39.place to where we were 30 years ago. But my mission is to deter any
:00:39. > :00:42.military aggression. We'll be live in port standly. Also
:00:42. > :00:46.tonight. Funerals in Egypt for some of the
:00:46. > :00:50.74 killed in yesterday's football violence. And questions about who
:00:50. > :00:54.was behind it. A decision within hours on whether
:00:54. > :00:57.Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne will be charged over allegations that
:00:57. > :01:02.his wife accepted speeding points on his behalf.
:01:02. > :01:12.And the Met Office issues an England-wide cold weather alert as
:01:12. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :01:39.charities warn of health risks for the elderly. Welcome to the BBC
:01:39. > :01:43.News at Six. Within the last hour, Prince William's flown into the
:01:43. > :01:47.Falkland Islands amid the worst diplomatic row between Britain and
:01:47. > :01:51.Argentina since the two countries went to war. He's there as an RAF
:01:51. > :01:54.Search and Rescue pilot. But the Argentines say the deployment is a
:01:55. > :02:02.provocative act. We can go straight to Port Stanley now and our Special
:02:02. > :02:06.Correspondent, Alan Little. How is this deployment being viewed there?
:02:06. > :02:10.I don't think anybody shares the view this is just another routine
:02:10. > :02:13.deployment. It is after all the 30th anniversary of the conflict,
:02:13. > :02:19.the war by Britain to reestablish British sovereignty in the islands
:02:19. > :02:23.and he is after all the future King. The Argentines are furious, they
:02:23. > :02:28.see it as a deliberate provocation. The islanders, not a very excitable
:02:28. > :02:32.bunch, are quietly pleased by what they see as a symbolic
:02:32. > :02:37.reaffirmation of Britain's long- standing commitment to their
:02:37. > :02:41.British identity. Argentina's rhetoric does not panic
:02:41. > :02:49.this place. The part-time soldiers of the Falkland Islands Defence
:02:49. > :02:55.Force patrol their wet island home. No-one here fears another invasion.
:02:55. > :02:58.Officially, he is here as plain old Flight Lieutenant Wales, not a
:02:58. > :03:01.Royal but a search and rescue helicopter pilot. That's not how
:03:01. > :03:04.the world sees it. The Falkland Islanders welcome him as a
:03:04. > :03:08.restatement of the bond with Britain. Argentina said he was here
:03:09. > :03:12.in what it called the uniform of the conqueror. But the Falklands
:03:12. > :03:19.are not spooked by the rhetoric. We are in a very, very different
:03:19. > :03:23.place to where we were 30 years ago. But my mission is to deter any
:03:23. > :03:28.military aggression to these islands or the other south Atlantic
:03:28. > :03:32.overseas territories and it's only if that fails should I need to
:03:32. > :03:38.defend this. I've got the capabilities to do that.
:03:38. > :03:44.The islanders even so are glad of this, HMS Dauntless is one of the
:03:44. > :03:48.knewest, most powerful in the flood, prepared to attack from the air.
:03:48. > :03:52.Argentina says it's militarised the pursuit. Britain says it's a
:03:52. > :03:56.deployment, not an escalation. The islanders defiance is shaped by
:03:56. > :04:00.memory. For them, it's a living vital thing that men came from
:04:00. > :04:08.9,000 miles away to win back their right to self-determination.
:04:08. > :04:10.Many of them died for it. That experience underpins Britain
:04:10. > :04:15.eetion position that whatever Argentina's claims to the islands,
:04:15. > :04:18.the right to the people here to choose their own destiny remains
:04:18. > :04:22.non-negotiable. Port Stanley is as British as fish
:04:22. > :04:28.and chips, Sussex in the south Atlantic, loyal to the crown
:04:28. > :04:33.through generations. It is calmly defiant.
:04:33. > :04:38.Argentinians have had many opportunities to have a
:04:38. > :04:43.relationship with them, in terms of fishery, oil, trade, but it was
:04:43. > :04:47.actually Argentina that pulled out of the talks. They walked away from
:04:47. > :04:51.it, the Falkland Islands didn't. The bond with Britain causes great
:04:51. > :04:56.confidence here. The Falklands are forging ahead with oil exploration,
:04:56. > :04:59.to the fury of Argentina. No-one here cares much for Argentine
:04:59. > :05:07.sensibilities. If they feel it's a provocation to
:05:07. > :05:12.them, that's their view. The UK Government's got no doubt about
:05:12. > :05:16.Falkland sovereignty being British. I think it's not really an issue
:05:16. > :05:21.that it's any of their business in our view.
:05:21. > :05:26.1982 casts a shadow. For what happened here made this distant
:05:26. > :05:30.difficult place still more stead fast in its enduring Britishness.
:05:30. > :05:34.There is one other thing that helps bolster the islanders' confidence
:05:34. > :05:38.here, that's that Argentina has changed. 30 years ago, it was a
:05:38. > :05:41.right-wing military dictatorship looking for a way to stay in power,
:05:41. > :05:47.today it's a democracy and keeps repeating that it seeks a peaceful
:05:47. > :05:51.resolution to its dispute with Britain. Paradoxically, change in
:05:51. > :05:54.Argentina has itself helped make the Falkland Islands more securely
:05:54. > :05:58.British, and that certainly bolsters confidence here too.
:05:58. > :06:02.Thank you very much. Egypt's Parliament has held an
:06:02. > :06:07.emergency session today after 74 people were killed in rioting at a
:06:07. > :06:10.football match last night. The violence has fuelled political
:06:10. > :06:13.tensions with the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest
:06:13. > :06:17.political movement, claiming that supporters of the former regime
:06:17. > :06:22.planned the violence in Port Said. Today, in Cairo, hundreds of angry
:06:22. > :06:25.fans gathered in Tahrir Square to demand those responsible are caught.
:06:25. > :06:31.Our Middle East correspondent, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes is there for
:06:31. > :06:36.us now. George, the funerals have begun
:06:36. > :06:39.this afternoon of some of those 74 mostly young people who were killed
:06:39. > :06:45.last night in Egypt's worst ever football violence.
:06:45. > :06:49.Today in Cairo, it's been a day of anger, disbelief and of deep, deep
:06:49. > :06:55.suspicion on the part of many about who is really behind the violence
:06:55. > :07:00.that killed so many. On the streets of Cairo this
:07:00. > :07:04.afternoon, they already have their own theories.
:07:04. > :07:10.These football fans are convinced the attack was planned and
:07:10. > :07:15.organised by Egypt's Security Forces.
:07:15. > :07:21.It's a crime done from the old regime. They stole money from the
:07:21. > :07:24.people for 30 years and now they are spending the money to make
:07:24. > :07:29.gangsters and corruption in Egypt because they don't want the
:07:29. > :07:38.revolution to be succeeded. There is so far no evidence to
:07:38. > :07:41.support that claim. These were the extraordinary scenes at Cairo
:07:42. > :07:48.railway station early this morning as the train carrying survivors and
:07:48. > :07:53.the dead from Port Said pulled in. Thousands and thousands of
:07:53. > :07:58.supporters crammed the balconies and platforms, justice or death,
:07:58. > :08:02.they chant. This man immediately blames the
:08:02. > :08:06.Head of Egypt's military junta for the deaths. Tantawi opened the
:08:06. > :08:12.doors so the thugs could attack our friends, he says.
:08:12. > :08:16.As dawn breaks, another train pulls Anxious parents wait desperately
:08:16. > :08:22.for news. TRANSLATION: My son's not answered
:08:22. > :08:30.his phone since yesterday. Please, I beg you, help me find my son.
:08:30. > :08:34.This is how it all happened on live television. As the game ends, fans
:08:34. > :08:39.from the victorious Port Said team flood the pitch. The Cairo team
:08:39. > :08:42.fled for their lives, but many of the fans were not so lucky. They're
:08:42. > :08:46.overrun, beaten, bludgeoned and stabbed.
:08:46. > :08:51.Today, the blood-smeared seats tell of the brutality of the attacks,
:08:51. > :08:53.the piles of shoes show where bodies were crushed against locked
:08:53. > :08:57.gates. The Head of Egypt's military junta
:08:57. > :09:03.met with shaken players from the Cairo team. He promised the
:09:03. > :09:05.culprits will be found and punished. TRANSLATION: With the results of
:09:05. > :09:11.this investigation, each one will take his punishment and we'll know
:09:11. > :09:16.why and who caused this tragedy. But with so many young people dead,
:09:16. > :09:19.nothing will stop some here from believing that the old men who
:09:19. > :09:22.ruled Egypt for so long somehow were responsible.
:09:23. > :09:27.You may be able to hear behind me here there are sirens going off.
:09:27. > :09:31.There is still protests taking place in Tahrir Square tonight. We
:09:31. > :09:35.understand that tear gas has been fired in the last half hour or so.
:09:35. > :09:41.The Government says that it's firing, it's going to sack rather
:09:41. > :09:43.the governor of Port Said and it's sacked the whole board of the
:09:43. > :09:46.Egyptian Football Association. As I said in the piece, that doesn't
:09:47. > :09:50.seem to be placating the anger and suspicion here.
:09:50. > :09:53.Thank you very much. The energy and climate secretary,
:09:53. > :09:57.Chris Huhne, will find out tomorrow morning if the Crown Prosecution
:09:57. > :10:00.Service is to press charges against him over claims his former wife
:10:00. > :10:04.accepted penalty points on his behalf.
:10:04. > :10:09.In an unusual move, the Director of Public Prosecutions will make a
:10:09. > :10:12.public statement on the decision. Mr Huhne has denyed the accusations.
:10:12. > :10:15.Essex Police have been examining the allegations against Mr Huhne
:10:15. > :10:19.dating back to 2003 for several months.
:10:19. > :10:23.Let's get the latest with our Political Editor Nick Robinson. So
:10:23. > :10:26.a decision tomorrow morning. Crucial hours for both Mr Huhne and
:10:26. > :10:30.the Government? They are. It's not every day that
:10:30. > :10:35.Britain's top prosecutor, the Director of Public Prosecutions
:10:35. > :10:38.summons the news cameras in order to make a statement which will seal
:10:38. > :10:42.the fate of a senior Cabinet Minister, but that is what we now
:10:42. > :10:46.have. Now, if we hear tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock that Chris
:10:46. > :10:50.Huhne is to be charged, it is clear to me that he will be speeding out
:10:50. > :10:53.of the Cabinet. Even though he's always protested
:10:53. > :10:57.his innocence, Nick Clegg, his party leader and the Deputy Prime
:10:57. > :11:01.Minister, signalled a while ago in a television interview that what
:11:01. > :11:05.mattered is that Cabinet Ministers were seen to have the highest
:11:05. > :11:08.standards of probity. He signalled too he'd been speaking to the Prime
:11:08. > :11:13.Minister about it, but also to the Cabinet Secretary, Britain's top
:11:13. > :11:16.civil servant, who is in these cases a kind of arbiter of the
:11:16. > :11:20.necessary standards. Some people have concluded that the
:11:20. > :11:23.presence of the cameras, the presence of the Director of Public
:11:23. > :11:27.Prosecutions must mean that tomorrow's announcement will be one
:11:28. > :11:31.that charges are going to be brought. I have to say, I would be
:11:31. > :11:35.careful about jumping to any such conclusion. When there is an issue
:11:35. > :11:39.of this sort which has huge public interest which makes its way on to
:11:39. > :11:45.the front-pages of newspapers and on to television bulletins, the
:11:45. > :11:49.Crown Prosecution Service is always very keen that it's thinking very
:11:49. > :11:52.clearly. Maybe there are to be no charges and they want to explain
:11:52. > :11:55.exactly why. George, you have probably noticed that's a long
:11:55. > :11:57.winded way of me saying I don't know what's going to happen
:11:58. > :12:02.tomorrow morning, and normally we political journalists like to get
:12:02. > :12:05.you a leak. The problem is, none of the people who ought to know do
:12:05. > :12:09.know and so there's no leak to be had.
:12:09. > :12:15.All right Nick, thank you. The pharmaceutical giant
:12:15. > :12:19.AstraZenica has announced it's to cut 7,300 jobs worldwide. The firm
:12:19. > :12:25.employs 8,000 people in the UK. Unions claim up to 350 jobs are
:12:25. > :12:31.expected to go at the company's Alderly Park site in Cheshire.
:12:31. > :12:35.A policeman who ill filtrated a group of environmental protesters
:12:35. > :12:38.defied management instruction and was inadequately supervised a
:12:38. > :12:43.review concluded. Mark Kennedy spent seven years undercover
:12:43. > :12:48.amongst activists and caused a trial to collapse. The report
:12:48. > :12:51.suggests an independent body may be required to authorise deployments.
:12:51. > :12:55.An inquiry has been ordered into the tax affairs of top civil
:12:55. > :12:58.servants. It comes after an investigation by BBC Newsnight
:12:58. > :13:02.revealed that the Chief Executive of the Student Loans Company, Ed
:13:02. > :13:06.Lester, was paid through his private company, which meant he
:13:06. > :13:10.could avoid normal tax deductions. Our Deputy Political Editor, James
:13:10. > :13:15.Landale, has more. Civil servants in Whitehall paid
:13:15. > :13:18.for by the taxpayer. But how much tax should they be able to avoid
:13:18. > :13:23.paying themselves? Over the last two years, this civil servant's
:13:23. > :13:27.been able to avoid paying tens of thousands of tax quite legally. In
:13:27. > :13:30.2010, Ed Lester was appointed by the university's minister, David
:13:30. > :13:34.Willets here on the right to head up the company that deals with
:13:34. > :13:38.student loans. But it's now emerged that ministers and officials agreed
:13:38. > :13:42.to pay Mr Lester �182,000 for his work here in Scotland.
:13:42. > :13:45.But it was paid into a company based at his home here on the
:13:45. > :13:49.Thames, a move that meant he could pay a lot less tax.
:13:49. > :13:54.Today, the minister who signed off the salary, flanked by Mr Willets,
:13:54. > :13:58.was forced to the Commons to eat humble pie. There's no place for
:13:58. > :14:05.tax avoid answerance in Government. He said he will now pay tax and
:14:05. > :14:08.national insurance like the rest of Mr Speaker, at a time when 'all
:14:08. > :14:13.have to pull in same direction to tackle the financial problems, it's
:14:13. > :14:18.essential we pay our null and fair share. That's why tief I've taken
:14:18. > :14:21.this action to make sure Government departments do not support this.
:14:21. > :14:26.That wasn't good enough. Those working in the frontline of the
:14:26. > :14:29.public sector will find these revelations obscene. At a time when
:14:29. > :14:32.the economy is flatlinings, families are being squeezed and
:14:32. > :14:35.students face a tripling of tuition fees, the news that ministers
:14:35. > :14:39.approve the contract of a senior official which allowed tax and
:14:39. > :14:42.national insurance to be avoided shows just how out of touch they
:14:42. > :14:47.are. It's still not clear who approved
:14:47. > :14:50.Mr Lester's tax deal. Documents obtained by the BBC appear to show
:14:50. > :14:55.that Mr Willets, the Universities Minister, was aware of the deal and
:14:55. > :14:58.that he claimed that Mr Alexander here approved it.
:14:58. > :15:02.Mr Alexander says he wasn't aware of the tax benefits. Either way,
:15:02. > :15:06.students were not impressed. hypocrisy of the idea that the
:15:06. > :15:09.Government tell us they can't afford education maintenance
:15:09. > :15:12.allowance and to fund our universities but they can come to
:15:12. > :15:16.comfy arrangements with senior public servants to avoid tax, well
:15:16. > :15:20.that's a real kick in the teeth for us. The Treasury's inquiry will
:15:20. > :15:24.find out how many more officials in Whitehall have similar tax deals,
:15:24. > :15:29.deals that are embarrassing for a Government trying to tackle tax
:15:29. > :15:33.avoidance, a Government that claims we are all in this together.
:15:33. > :15:38.The time is 6.15. Our top story tonight:
:15:38. > :15:43.Prince William's tour of duty in the Falklands gets under way amid
:15:43. > :15:47.rising tension between Britain and Argentina. Coming up: I'll find out
:15:47. > :15:57.if this Central London Street really was the inspiration for
:15:57. > :16:01.
:16:01. > :16:08.Dickens when he was writing Oliver A multi-billion pound merger in the
:16:08. > :16:12.business world - Xstrata and Glencore are talking.
:16:12. > :16:17.With winter's deepfreeze upon us, there are fears for the elderly
:16:17. > :16:19.after the Met Office issued a serious England-wide weather alert.
:16:19. > :16:26.Age UK has warned plunging temperatures can be a dangerous
:16:26. > :16:31.time for the elderly with a greater risk of heart attacks and strokes.
:16:31. > :16:36.In the high hills of the Pennines the snow has come and gone all
:16:36. > :16:40.winter. Today was below freezing again. But in the Lowlands of
:16:40. > :16:44.County Durham, people are concerned that it is going to get colder and
:16:44. > :16:49.are worried about what could happen. I wouldn't dare go out because I
:16:49. > :16:54.would be frightened I fell. I did fall years ago. Where I live, I'm
:16:54. > :16:58.in a railway bungalow. They don't come to sweep the snow away. You
:16:58. > :17:03.have to do it yourself. Every man for himself! That is what it is,
:17:03. > :17:08.darling, every man for himself. are hoping for volunteers to clear
:17:08. > :17:12.the paths for the elderly people, to make it safer. We also have put
:17:12. > :17:16.together some food parcels that we hope to distribute to anybody who
:17:16. > :17:20.is housebound over the time. the temperatures have got so low
:17:20. > :17:25.that the Met Office has issued its most serious cold weather alert of
:17:25. > :17:30.the winter so far. Temperatures tonight could get as low as minus
:17:30. > :17:36.10 and scenes like this are likely to become familiar to many of us
:17:36. > :17:38.over this coming weekend. We are right on the edge of this really
:17:38. > :17:42.cold weather across Europe. Our temperatures are struggling. The
:17:42. > :17:47.problem for the weekend is we have milder air trying to come in. As
:17:47. > :17:52.that bumps up against the cold air, we are likely to see some snow.
:17:52. > :17:58.Europe, the conditions are much harsher. Temperatures have dropped
:17:58. > :18:02.to minus 32 Celsius in places and at least 160 people have died.
:18:02. > :18:10.Scores of communities in Eastern Europe have been cut off and in
:18:10. > :18:15.places, even the sea has frozen. Back here, hill farmers are used to
:18:15. > :18:20.these conditions, but still have to be prepared. We make sure that we
:18:20. > :18:24.have plenty of fuel in for the stove in the house. I add a bit of
:18:24. > :18:31.paraffin to the diesel in the tractors to make sure it doesn't
:18:32. > :18:37.freeze up. With big bales, you can't start a tractor. It may be
:18:37. > :18:44.late in coming, but it seems winter is finally here for a large part of
:18:44. > :18:47.the UK. William Hague has called for more
:18:47. > :18:51.action to tackle the terrorist threat from Somalia as he became
:18:51. > :18:55.the first British Foreign Secretary to visit in 20 years. His arrival
:18:55. > :19:00.in Mogadishu signals the start of a major diplomatic push to restore
:19:00. > :19:04.stability in the country. He described Somalia as the world's
:19:04. > :19:08.most failed state. The Tottenham manager has denied
:19:08. > :19:12.telling his trial at Southwark Crown Court what he called "a "pack
:19:12. > :19:17.of lies"". Mr Redknapp said the allegation had been an insult and
:19:17. > :19:22.insisted he told the whole truth. He and Milan Mandaric deny two
:19:22. > :19:26.counts of tax evasion. James Pearce was in court. There is some flash
:19:26. > :19:30.photography in the report. Accused of setting up an offshore
:19:30. > :19:35.bank account to avoid paying tax. Harry Redknapp arrived for a second
:19:35. > :19:45.day in the witness box. He denies that a payment in Monaco was a
:19:45. > :19:45.
:19:46. > :19:49.bonus for the transfer of Peter Crouch. The court heard that Harry
:19:49. > :19:53.Redknapp had first found out about the allegations when he received a
:19:53. > :19:59.phone call from a reporter at the News of the World. Redknapp claims
:19:59. > :20:09.that in the recorded conversation which followed he lied to the
:20:09. > :20:18.
:20:18. > :20:25.There were lighter moments in court, too. Redknapp was asked about his
:20:25. > :20:29.dog which had given its name to the Monaco account. "I loved Rosie" he
:20:29. > :20:34.said. "I don't like ever calling her a dog. She was better than
:20:34. > :20:38.that!" As the cross-examination drew to a close, once again the
:20:39. > :20:41.atmosphere became heated. Redknapp was accused of telling a "pack of
:20:42. > :20:45.lies". The Tottenham manager replied, "You think that I put my
:20:45. > :20:49.hand on The Bible and told lies? That is an insult. Everything I
:20:49. > :20:54.have told you has been the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
:20:54. > :20:59.truth so help me God." The prosecution continued, "Mr Redknapp,
:20:59. > :21:06.you have come to this court and twisted your account to get you and
:21:06. > :21:11.Manda off the hook, haven't you?" The reply: "Absolutely not. Give me
:21:11. > :21:15.The Bible back and I will put my hand back on it." The jurors were
:21:15. > :21:22.told that they should be sent out to consider their verdicts on
:21:22. > :21:26.Tuesday. Tomorrow the prosecution will give their closing arguments.
:21:26. > :21:30.Tomorrow morning England's cricketers begin the Third Test
:21:30. > :21:33.against Pakistan desperate to avoid the embarrassment of a 3-0
:21:33. > :21:39.whitewash. Having ended 2011 as the best team in the world, England
:21:39. > :21:45.already face the prospect of losing that coveted position.
:21:45. > :21:50.In the UAE, you will find United all - tallest, wealthiest and
:21:50. > :21:56.fastest. Over 150mph, this is the quickest rollercoaster in the world.
:21:56. > :22:00.Considered the most nerve-wracking experience in the UAE. Until we
:22:00. > :22:03.watched England bat here! This week in Dubai England have been trying
:22:03. > :22:08.to repair the confidence which was shattered in the Second Test when
:22:08. > :22:14.they were bowled out for 72. England cricket team... It was only
:22:14. > :22:18.in December when they were BBC Sports personal Team of the Year,
:22:18. > :22:23.unbeaten in 2011. How rapidly the feeling has changed. You get to
:22:23. > :22:27.number one, now it is the tough stage. England have had it their
:22:27. > :22:33.own way in terms of the way they have played for two years, they
:22:33. > :22:35.have played great, but now it's a challenge. It's a test of
:22:35. > :22:40.everyone's mentality, their togetherness as a team. England
:22:40. > :22:45.have been undone by spin. With his much discussed action, Saeed Ajmal
:22:45. > :22:51.makes the ball skip and skid. He won Pakistan the First Test. Then
:22:51. > :22:56.Abdur Rehman, spinning it differently, tore England apart in
:22:56. > :23:02.the second. This series has become a Pakistan revival. We work hard,
:23:02. > :23:06.bowling line and length. Just focus on my bowling. When we finished
:23:06. > :23:13.last game, they celebrate everywhere in Pakistan, we are
:23:13. > :23:17.happy here and they are happy there. The same thing happening again is
:23:17. > :23:22.what England are afraid of. Cricket's world rankings are
:23:22. > :23:30.complex and competitive. England know if they lose here they risk
:23:30. > :23:37.losing that number one status. As for the tallest, this building is
:23:37. > :23:42.close to 3,000 feet so you reach the top. Where next?
:23:42. > :23:48.Now, he was the most famous writer of his time, a man whose novels
:23:48. > :23:54.captured the Victorian era. 200 years since his birth, Charles
:23:54. > :23:58.Dickens remains an iconic figure. Now, there is new evidence that
:23:58. > :24:03.Dickens lived closer to some of those characters than previously
:24:03. > :24:06.thought. Charles Dickens is one of the great
:24:06. > :24:10.writers. The academics are convinced and so are the public.
:24:10. > :24:14.His books have never been out of print. There are many reasons to
:24:15. > :24:19.admire his work. The style, the characters, and the subject matter.
:24:19. > :24:22.Few authors have documented their time more incisively than Charles
:24:22. > :24:27.Dickens. Now a new book claims to reveal the full extent to which he
:24:27. > :24:32.was influenced by his surroundings. This is a street in Central London
:24:32. > :24:38.which the new book claims was Dickens' inspiration for Oliver
:24:38. > :24:44.Twist. He did once live here. And he would have walked up-and-down
:24:44. > :24:50.this road doing his favourite thing which was observing every day life
:24:50. > :24:56.with his ear for dialogue and keen eye for detail. This building was a
:24:56. > :25:06.work house when he lived in the street. The historian who
:25:06. > :25:09.
:25:09. > :25:16.researched the book took me on a tour of the area. I found Dan
:25:17. > :25:21.Wheller like Sam Wheller in Pickwick Papers. This series is set
:25:21. > :25:28.on a fictional council estate in Manchester. It has social realism
:25:28. > :25:36.at its heart. They know how to throw a party! No surprise then
:25:36. > :25:41.that its writer is a Dickens fan. He was making the world want to
:25:41. > :25:46.read about the state of the British underclass. He somehow, that is
:25:46. > :25:52.what he did. That is an act of genius. You compel somebody to read
:25:52. > :25:56.what they most don't want to read about. He stole the nation's hearts
:25:56. > :26:02.through fiction. Fiction is one of the finest ways of telling the
:26:02. > :26:07.truth. Please, Sir, I want some more. The author of a Dickens
:26:07. > :26:14.biography agrees that was his great skill. He was a great reporter. Of
:26:14. > :26:20.course, he began as a reporter. He combines, I think, the acute
:26:21. > :26:26.perceptive eye of a reporter with a poetic imagination. He embroiders
:26:26. > :26:31.upon reality through language and that is marvellous. And it is that
:26:31. > :26:35.gift which has given Dickens his appeal to readers and writers alike.
:26:35. > :26:41.He exposed the universal truths of life that are still as relevant
:26:41. > :26:43.today as they were when he was born today as they were when he was born
:26:43. > :26:48.200 years ago this month. Now it is time for the weather with
:26:48. > :26:52.Alex. We have had this alert. How is it playing out? We could have
:26:52. > :26:56.some Dickensian winter scenes of our own with some snowfall. The
:26:56. > :26:59.main focus has to be those temperatures falling sharply. We
:26:59. > :27:07.already have a frost and that frost is only going to get worse. There
:27:07. > :27:11.are one or two snow flurries across the eastern counties of England.
:27:11. > :27:15.Temperatures in towns and cities will drop to minus three to minus
:27:15. > :27:19.five. In rural areas we may be lower than that. As low as minus
:27:19. > :27:23.nine or ten in the countryside. Yes, bitterly cold again on Friday.
:27:23. > :27:28.Essentially, another fine day with plenty of sunshine. There will be
:27:28. > :27:31.some snow showers across parts of Kent and Sussex early in the day. A
:27:31. > :27:39.bit more cloud through Northern Ireland and the cloud may increase
:27:39. > :27:44.across parts of South West Scotland. Most places it will be a sunny day.
:27:44. > :27:48.On Friday night, those temperatures will drop. There is a risk of some
:27:48. > :27:51.snow flurries coming into parts of Kent. There could be a few
:27:51. > :27:56.centimetres developing here during Friday evening. Then for the
:27:56. > :28:00.weekend, the focus turns west. It is a bank of rain for Northern
:28:00. > :28:04.Ireland and western Scotland. This weather system promises to give us
:28:04. > :28:08.a few headaches. We have the mild air, we have been talking about the
:28:08. > :28:12.battleground between the mild and the cold air. It looks as if the
:28:12. > :28:17.cold air will stick across England and Wales. As that weather system
:28:17. > :28:21.bumps in, it could provide some significant snowfall. Still some
:28:22. > :28:29.uncertainty about where and how much. Northern, Central and Eastern
:28:29. > :28:35.areas of England are the areas most at risk from a period of snow. Stay